Medications are most effective when taken according to the prescribed schedule. However, people often fail to comply with a medication schedule due to forgetting how often medication should be taken or when they last took the medication. Such problems are especially prevalent with those who take several medications on different schedules. The elderly are especially prone to problems since they often take several medications and often have failing memories.
Various electronic devices exist for assisting the user in following a medication schedule. Generally these devices consist of a timer which activates an alarm when medication is to be taken. Exemplary devices are described in U.S. Pat Nos. 4,258,354, 4,768,176, 4,837,719 and 5,020,037.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,258,354 discloses a portable alarm device which stores medications within a plurality of compartments and sounds an alarm indicating when a medication in one of the compartments is to be taken. The times for taking medication are programmed at hourly intervals by inserting a strip which contains perforations indicating the schedule.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,176 discloses an apparatus for alerting a patient to take medication which contains compartments for each medication and an alarm indicating when, and which medication, should be taken. The alarm is deactivated when the appropriate compartment is accessed. A "night" switch operates to deactivate all future alarms until a specified time in the morning.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,719 discloses a medication clock for signaling the times that dosages of a medication should be taken. The device also provides a record of when each medicine was taken for comparison with the medication schedule. In addition, the device can monitor and record temperature, blood pressure and pulse rate of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,037 discloses an alarm pill box which cancels the alarm when a compartment lid is opened. A visual display is used to indicate the number of times that the lid has been opened within one day.
In summary, these patents disclose a device which provides various procedures for alerting a user when medication should be taken and, in some instances, recording when medications were taken. However, these devices do not provide a simple portable unit which stores medications and indicates when the medication is to be taken. Additionally, the devices do not provide the user with the ability to review the schedule to insure that medication is taken at proper times and to determine when medications are to be taken in the future. The devices also fail to allow for irregular schedules for medications taken at different times on subsequent days.